2023-11-05 18:00:44
© Reuters. Hamburg Airport, Germany 09/24/2019 REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Police arrested a man and rescued a child at the center of a hostage standoff at Hamburg airport on Sunday, ending a crisis that forced authorities to close the busy air hub.
A man, who police said was suspected of carrying a gun and possibly explosives, drove a vehicle through the airport gates Saturday night, authorities said.
Police said the 35-year-old man was with his four-year-old daughter and may have been involved in a custody dispute.
“The hostage situation is over,” the city’s police force wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, early Sunday afternoon.
“The suspect got out of the car with his daughter. The man was detained by emergency services without resistance. The child appears to be unharmed,” he added.
The airport said it is working to resume operations as quickly as possible. A total of 286 flights carrying around 34,500 passengers were scheduled for Sunday, it previously reported.
“I wish the mother, the child and her family a lot of strength in dealing with this terrible experience,” wrote Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher in X.
The episode raised concerns about security at the airport less than four months after climate activists entered the tarmac and blocked planes.
(Reporting by Tom Sims, Joern Poltz and Tanya Wood)
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